1912 illustration of Titanic's lifeboats being lowered.

At 12.20 am on 15 April Titanic's boats were swung out.  About 12.30am the order was given to place woman and children in the lifeboats and 15 minutes later the boats began to be lowered to the water 65 feet below.  However for various reasons not all lifeboats were filled to capacity.  Many passengers were reluctant to leave Titanic, thinking that the risk was less than in the boats.
Titanic's 20 lifeboats were in excess of Board of Trade rules, which required her to carry only 16 boats.  In 1912 these rules related to the tonnage of ships, not to the number of people on board.  After the Titanic disaster, the rules were quickly changed and enough lifeboats were provided for everyone on board ships at sea.